Why write your annual report in Plain English
Clear, compelling and human
Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of modern corporate governance and reporting. Writing your annual report or other corporate documents in Plain English is committing to ensure it is read, understood and acted on.
Based on years of experience in writing and editing reports, a Plain English approach helps to deliver a consistent, on-brand report.
5 reasons to write your annual report in Plain English
1. Faster to write, and faster to read
2. Boosts audience accessibility
3. More people understand it on the first read
4. Readers trust what they understand
5. Ensures accessibility and transparency
Insider tips on writing your report in Plain English
Build your own style guide
Most brands and departments will have an existing writing/editorial style guide. Most brands and departments will have an outdated one that doesn’t capture all the ins and outs of annual reports, sustainability reports or other corporate communication.
We recommend keeping a project-specific A-Z style guide and adding to it as items come up – do we capitalise this? Do we hyphenate that? Does the CEO have a personal pet peeve about a certain phrase or language? Check your project style guide.